August 8, 2012
This release should be read with the Company’s Financial Statements and Management Discussion & Analysis (“MD&A”), available at www.tasekomines.com and filed on www.sedar.com. Except where otherwise noted, all currency amounts are stated in Canadian dollars. Taseko’s 75% owned Gibraltar Mine is located north of the City of Williams Lake in south-central British Columbia. Production volumes stated in this release are on a 100% basis unless otherwise indicated.
August 8, 2012, Vancouver, BC - Taseko Mines Limited (TSX: TKO; NYSE MKT: TGB) (“Taseko” or the “Company”) reports the results for the three months ended June 30, 2012.
Highlights
For the three months ended June 30, 2012, Taseko had gross profit of $16.0 million and adjusted net earnings of $4.0 million ($0.02 per share). This compares to gross profit of $16.6 million and adjusted net earnings of $1.7 million ($0.01 per share) for the three months ended June 30, 2011.
Russell Hallbauer, President and CEO of Taseko commented, “By the end of the second quarter, our Gibraltar operations team made significant strides towards achieving our production targets. In July, mill throughput averaged just over 53,000 tons per operating day and copper production was approximately nine million pounds, including cathode. With further refinements, we expect to process 9.0 to 9.5 million tons of ore in the second half of 2012, inclusive of downtime associated with tie-ins for the GDP3 project.”
“In early July, we saw a small window of copper pricing strength and opportunistically purchased copper put options for the first half of 2013 for approximately 60% of Taseko’s share of production. With a strike price of US$3.00 per pound, this hedge will secure a minimum revenue stream for the first half of 2013.”
Mr. Hallbauer continued, “Our GDP3 project is progressing very well and remains on time and on budget. Installation of concentrator equipment is underway and the new SAG mill shell has now been erected. Also, over and above our capital spending, we invested nearly $5 million in the quarter on our New Prosperity and Aley development projects. While this spending has an immediate earnings impact, the long-term potential rewards from these projects continue to be very encouraging. By early 2013, our expectation is that the New Prosperity environmental assessment and Aley feasibility study will both be complete.”
Taseko will host a conference call on Thursday, August 9, 2012 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time (8:00 a.m. Pacific) to discuss these results. The conference call may be accessed by dialing (877) 303-9079, or (970) 315-0461 internationally. Accompanying presentation slides will be available to download at tasekomines.com. Alternatively, a live and archived webcast will also be available at tasekomines.com.
The conference call will be archived for later playback until August 16, 2012 and can be accessed by dialing (855) 859-2056 in Canada and the United States, or (404) 537-3406 internationally and using the passcode 99514703.
For further information contact: Brian Bergot, Investor Relations — 778-373-4545, toll free 1-800-667-2114
Russell Hallbauer
President and CEO
No regulatory authority has approved or disapproved of the information contained in this news release.
This document contains “forward-looking statements” that were based on Taseko’s expectations, estimates and projections as of the dates as of which those statements were made. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “outlook”, “anticipate”, “project”, “target”, “believe”, “estimate”, “expect”, “intend”, “should” and similar expressions.
Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the Company’s actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These included but are not limited to:
For further information on Taseko, investors should review the Company’s annual Form 40-F filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission www.sec.gov and home jurisdiction filings that are available at www.sedar.com.